CHAPTER 148: COMPARISON

Topic: [A massive explosion is coming, did you guys see the reports yet?!!!!]

[Lance stood up and clapped on the spot, my god, that look in his eyes—he’s definitely been a die-hard Joshua fan for ten years ha ha ha!]

[Don’t tell me he actually chose Joshua?]

[Could just be that the performance was too excellent, ha ha ha]

[As expected of our national center!]

Topic: [Explosive from the moment they appeared, ShineOn becomes the center of attention! Joshua and Leonard interacted right on the red carpet. What does it mean?!]

[It means they’re close, that’s it, ha ha ha. You guys need to stop spreading rumors about internal factions already.]

[It means Foby is real and I’m fake ha ha ha]

[Anyone watching the livestream knows—some group’s aura got instantly snuffed out the moment ShineOn showed up ha ha ha]

[The difference between real rising superstar seedlings.]

[But isn’t it funny? That one group keeps boasting about being top visual material, but never stops to consider their own weight. Today they were utterly crushed.]

[That face is obviously surgically enhanced.]

[... what’s wrong with plastic surgery?]

[Exactly, nothing wrong with it, but their fans keep bragging about "natural visuals," that’s why people dislike them, no need to overthink it ha ha ha.]

[I’m a non-fan, but I have to say, ShineOn is truly on another level.]

[Actually, we shouldn’t even compare them. ShineOn didn’t join to be idols anyway, three out of five just came for fun...]

[Why say that? Even if they’re here for fun, they still do their jobs well. They’re giving fans two whole years—please don’t talk as if they’re doing nothing.]

[From now on, if these two groups appear together, they’ll definitely get compared...]

[Sorry, but the other group’s average level is far behind ShineOn.]

[Honestly, ShineOn really is a whole garden of visuals. They’ll definitely be the peak two years among all trainee groups that debuted from survival shows!]

Topic: [Two top visuals collide, who is truly...]

As the centers of their respective groups—and with their fans frequently clashing on different "battlefields"—Joshua and Lucas were inevitably placed on the same scale for comparison.

The photos taken by the press showed every contour of his face clearly. Lucas gripped his phone tightly, watching his fans get pushed back again and again until they were utterly discouraged.

He couldn’t help clenching his teeth in silence, the comments and topics flashing past his eyes so quickly they almost hurt to look at.

Joshua Joshua Joshua—why?!

Why did you show up like a boulder dropped in my path? I was already shining brightly enough. If it weren’t for you, I would definitely be the center of attention!

Right then, the door to the room suddenly opened. John walked in, tall and broad-shouldered. Lucas shot him a glance, merely smiling without saying anything.

John didn’t care much about Lucas either and quickly headed into the bathroom.

Lucas’s gaze darkened as he stared at the tightly closed bathroom door.

Outside, they were the duo with the most fans, but in reality, they weren’t close at all. Lucas always felt the company’s arrangement was basically letting John openly leech popularity off him.

His thoughts drifted to ShineOn—the group that always acted like Joshua was their natural center, "performing" so convincingly it was almost laughable.

He was truly waiting for the day ShineOn disbanded, each member going their own way—then the public would finally realize those rich young masters never saw Joshua as anything special.

His harsh gaze fell back to his phone before he finally threw it onto the bed.

Meanwhile, Joshua had already showered and was lying down, smelling fresh and clean. Messages from Nine came in like a storm, almost spamming him the moment he touched the bed.

[Joshua, that was incredible! Fame Points have shot up again, this mission is about to be completed!]

[Our Joshua is excellent hehehehehehe]

Joshua: "..."

He had no idea where Nine learned to text like this—it was like talking to a child.

[Lance literally stood up, clapped, and stared at you like you two were lovers separated for thousands of years and fate finally let you reunite?]

Joshua: "..."

Nine watched as replies appeared quickly.

MyJ: [Stop talking nonsense. What kind of nonsense have you been reading online?]

MyJ: [Right, I also ran into Luis.]

Luis.

Who was Luis?

Nine quickly searched through the celebrity database, and in the next second, he knew precisely who Luis was. He couldn’t help frowning a little. Why was Joshua suddenly talking about Luis? They had no overlap at all.

But what annoyed Nine even more came right after—because Joshua actually typed:

[I’m going to message him for a bit. It’s a little late though, he’s probably resting already.]

Nine: "!!!"

Joshua... Joshua put him aside to go find Luis?

What the hell—how could this even happen?!

Nine was furious, yet also completely clueless about the cause of any of this.

He immediately turned to Henry’s inbox—this was the secret mailbox between the two of them.

Naturally, there wasn’t much inside, almost everything was about Joshua.

[Hey, why does Joshua suddenly want to contact Luis? What actually happened today?!]

Henry watched the message flash across his screen.

Even though Nine always sounded believable, Henry still wasn’t entirely convinced they were the same person.

Nine had said he would help Henry recover his memories, and that he would look into the root of everything—but so far, there had been absolutely no progress.

Henry lowered his eyes, his expression blank as he replied:

[Joshua said he’s a fan of Luis.]

A fan?! A FAN?!

Nine:

[That’s definitely not it, damn it! Something must’ve happened that we don’t know about! Why don’t you try asking Joshua? You’re useless! Sooner or later, your position will be replaced by newcomers!]

Henry stayed silent.

Nine’s madness was within expectations—after all, he was precisely the type who would pick up an axe and attack anyone who dared get close to Joshua or receive even a sliver of Joshua’s affection.

This was one of the reasons Henry still couldn’t bring himself to accept that he and Nine shared the same soul.

ShineOn_Joshua: [Senior, I’m sorry to bother you this late, but there’s something I’d like to send you.]

Luis was still a bit exhausted. On the way back earlier, a sasaeng fan had found their route and tailed them for quite a distance—it took a lot of effort to finally shake them off.

Luis didn’t need to guess to know this was another trick by Mas.

He rubbed his aching forehead tiredly—and right at that moment, his phone suddenly rang, making him frown. But he still glanced at the screen.

Seeing Joshua’s message, Luis paused for a moment. After listening to the contents, his brows furrowed even tighter—yet a strange mix of helplessness and warmth suddenly settled in his chest.

So this was why Joshua had been chased by Mas?

Luis couldn’t help wondering—was Joshua not afraid of trouble at all?

Even if Joshua wasn’t part of Atius, Mas was still a well-known manager in the industry, while Luis himself hadn’t even escaped Atius’s control yet.

Luis let out a small smile before replying:

[Thank you, truly, Joshua. You really helped me with something big.]

With this video, whatever Mas was plotting couldn’t be carried out—at least not for now. Luis could finally enjoy a bit of peace during these last two weeks.

He had prepared so much for his upcoming freedom, even his private office was ready. Once everything had settled...

Joshua messaged back:

[It’s nothing, I’m happy to help. I’ve experienced being framed and misunderstood, too. If I have the chance, I don’t want others to be treated the way I was.]

Luis lowered his eyes; in the end, his lips curved slightly, his gaze gentle.

Meanwhile, after sending that message, Joshua let out a long yawn. At that moment, his hair was lightly brushed by a hand.

Silvanus instinctively raised his head, only to see Henry gently brushing his hair and saying softly, "Go to sleep."

Joshua blinked. He was lying on his stomach, legs bent and swaying behind him. Tilting his head back slightly, he smiled up at Henry and suddenly said:

"Leader, I feel like you’ve been paying more attention to me lately."

Henry fell silent. He stared straight at Joshua, then lifted a hand to touch Joshua’s cheek lightly, speaking in a soft voice:

"Don’t act spoiled."

Joshua’s lips curved immediately, eyes narrowing playfully as he pressed his face into Henry’s hand, rubbing against it.

He looked up gently, smiling, a dimple appearing on his cheek:

"At the very least, this is what you call acting spoiled, leader."

Henry’s hand froze, heat rushing through it.

He awkwardly pulled back and retreated into the bathroom.

Joshua watched his back disappear and couldn’t help laughing softly.

Henry, memories or not, was never that easy to embarrass.

After the Atius family’s year-end banquet, they still had an award ceremony to attend, but for now, they finally had more free time—mostly just needing to practice regularly.

Joshua sat on the sofa wearing only a pair of shorts, both legs curled up as he studied the game Nine had recommended. A pepero stick hung from his mouth as he slowly nibbled it, one cheek puffed out.

Justin passed by and couldn’t help feeling Joshua looked exactly like some kind of rodent—probably why Luther always compared him to a hamster.

Right then, Joshua suddenly frowned a little.

He lifted his gaze instinctively, and the moment he saw Justin, his eyes lit up.

"Justin, do you know this game?"